Cristiano Ronaldo’s career has changed drastically from the Premier League to the Saudi Pro League. During the 2022 World Cup, Manchester United announced that Christiano Ronaldo would be leaving the club. This shocked the world. Many were left with questions such as, where will CR7 go next?
When Professor Saldaña, upper school Spanish teacher at Wilmington Friends, heard about Ronaldo heading to the Saudi Pro League he had many emotions. “I mainly felt disappointment, I think he should still be competing at the highest level in Europe.” Ronaldo did not have enough time to showcase himself in Europe.
The main question for the world was how many of Ronaldo’s fans would continue to support him while he played in Saudi Arabia. The long-awaited Messi vs. Ronaldo game took place when Paris Saint-Germain took on Al Nassar on Thursday, January 19th, 2023. According to StreamCharts this friendly had “over 1.9 Million viewers”. With this huge matchup came many viewers; however, it will be interesting to see the viewer count during Al Nassr’s league games.
One of Ronaldo’s fans, Noah Gibbons ‘25 says “I will most likely not be watching him play in Saudi Arabia, I also have no idea what channels they even play on.” For many of CR7’s fans, watching him perform will be a challenge due to the channels that actually broadcast the Saudi League.
Ronaldo is unarguably one of the greatest soccer players of all time; although, his attitude a mentality are a concern to many. In the 2022 World Cup, Ronaldo was benched in the knockout stage due to making faces about being subbed off the game before. Many believed that this is due to his poor attitude; however, Sara Clothier ‘26 says “ I believe that his mentality is the reason he is so good, he has so much confidence in himself.”
“Ronaldo went to Al Nassr because of the money, I do believe that he could still be playing at a much higher level,” says Clothier ‘26. The money clearly played a huge role in Ronaldo’s moving to the Saudi League. CR7 is making 173 million euros a year, 514 thousand euros a day, and 357 euros a minute; however, his love for the game is more important than all the money in the world.
Many of Christiano Ronaldo’s fans are concerned that this will be the end of CR7. Professor Saldaña says, “I do not believe that Ronaldo should end his career with Al Nassr. I think he should retire on a Portuguese team.” It is unsure if Ronaldo will ever play in a World Cup again, due to his age; however, ending his career on a club team in Portugal would be the perfect ending.
Although the future of Christiano Ronaldo is full of questions and concerns, CR7 will look to make his mark in the Saudi League. He will continue to work hard and prove why he is one of the greatest of all time.
